Testosterone is a tricky hormone. It’s not like estrogen. You can’t just take a tablet every day. Your digestive process denatures testosterone, so swallowing it is useless. Instead, you need a different delivery method.

1.Through the Skin

Like many other medications, testosterone can be absorbed through the skin. These products are applied daily, giving you a steady hormone supply. This works well at suppressing the menstrual cycle, and leads to fewer mood swings than other delivery methods.

In Canada, the main brands are Androgel and Androderm.

Androgel is applied to the skin as a clear gel. It’s impossible to notice. Sometimes, it’s easy for the man using it to forget about it. This can be a problem: if you tough someone with testosterone on your hands, you will affect their hormones. This causes a bunch of mood and health products, especially for women, so be careful to wash all applied areas before touching others.

Androderm is like a nicotine patch, but with testosterone. This testosterone is more stable and less likely to be transferred to another person, but you still should wash your hands thoroughly after handling the patch. The main disadvantage of the patch is that it can come off. This makes it hard to maintain stable hormone levels and causes mood swings.

In the United States, the big brands are Testogel and Andropatch. These are similar to Androgel and Androderm, respectively.

2.Through the Mouth Membranes

The stomach might destroy testosterone, but saliva doesn’t. The brand Striant, available in both Canada and the U.S., packages testosterone in a soluble tablet. It takes about a half hour under your lip to fully dissolve. It may result in some mood changes throughout the day. As you can imagine, with Striant, you need to rinse your mouth before kissing someone.

3.Subcutaneous Injection

Testosterone oils are injected under the skin once every 4-12 weeks. They are slowly absorbed by the body. The main advantage is convenience: you rarely have to worry about it. The main disadvantage is the cyclic nature, as your body moves towards a peak testosterone between injections. Although injections work well for most men, some find that they do not suppress the menstrual cycle entirely, leading to periods starting near the time of the next injection.

Due to the cyclic effectiveness, injection testosterone has yet to be approved for use in Canada. There are black market alternatives, but they are often not stored or transported properly and may have denatured, and so are dangerous to use.

However, if you live near or in the United States, you can take advantage of injectable testosterone. There are two big brands in the United States: Nebido and Sustanon.

Nebido. Nebido is the most popular choice among trans men. You only need to take it once every 12 weeks, making it the lowest-maintenance option. It’s also, unfortunately, the most expensive, if you live in a place without coverage.

Sustanon. Sustanon is cheaper and higher-maintenance. It lasts for 2-3 weeks.